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COMPLIMENTS OF 

Los Angeles Commandery, No. 9 
Knights Templar 



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SOUVENIR OF 
LOS ANGELES 

PRESENTED BY LOS ANGELES COMMANDERY 
NO. 9, K. T., TO VISITING PRATERS OF THE 
KNIGHTS TEMPLAR OF THE UNITED STATES 
SEPTEMBER, NINETEEN HUNDRED & FOUR 




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The Talifornia Pop>'Y 



THIS little souvenir of the pueblo of 
the Queen of the Angels, Los Angeles, 
the chief city of the "Land of the After- 
noon," and the commercial metropolis of 
the Great Southwest, is presented with 
the fraternal greetings of the five hun- 
dred and twenty-five members of Los 
Angeles Commandery, No. 9, Knights 
Templar, to their visiting fraters, from all 
parts of the world. 
September, 1904. 



TJERE is a bird's-eye view of the cen- 
^ ^ tral portion of Los Angeles, the 
wonderful city of the Southwest, that 
has sprung up within less than twenty 
years, from a sleepy semi-Mexican set- 
tlement of adobes to a leading position 
among the important cities of the United 
States. During the past ten years Los 
Angeles has been growing more rapidly 
than any other city of its size in the 
country, and promises to make a still 
more rapid growth from now on. 



npHIS view shows one of the ideal res- 
^ idence streets in the southwestern 
part of the city, within fifteen minutes' 
ride of the business center. Here, those 
whose lot has been so fortunate as to be 
cast in this favored land may, even in 
midwinter, take their rest under the 
feathery leaves of the pepper tree, whose 
bright red berries give a hint of Christ- 
mas in other lands, while all around the 
air is fragrant with the perfume of orange 
blossoms, heliotrope, jasmine and other 
delicate flowers, that run riot in appar- 
ently reckless profusion. 







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TT is not only the wealthy who may 
^ enjoy beautiful homes in Southern Cal- 
ifornia. The man of modest means may, 
in an incredibly short time, smother his 
humble cottage in glorious climbing roses, 
bougainvillias, and other plants that soon 
cover the very roof of the house. South- 
ern California has been sometimes re- 
ferred to as a "rich man's country." It 
should rather be termed a "poor man's 
paradise." 



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"T^HIRD STREET is one of the cross 
^ streets running through between 
Main Street, Spring Street and Broad- 
way, and beyond. The tower and roof 
of the Gity Hall looms up in the back- 
ground. The structure in the foreground 
is the Conservative Life Building. In the 
background may be faintly discerned the 
elevated mesa of Boyle Heights, a resi- 
dence section on the east side of the 
river. 



A HALO of romance attaches to the 
'^ *■ missions of California, founded more 
than a century ago, by the self-sacrific- 
ing Franciscan priests. A chain of these 
missions extends about a day's journey, 
or thirty miles apart, from San Diego on 
the south to St. Francis Solano on the 
north, a distance of over six hundred 
miles. The mission shown here is one 
of the best preserved of these old edifices, 
regular services being still held there 
every Sunday. It seems almost like sac- 
rilege to see electric cars rushing by the 
doors of this relic of the past. The 
mission of San Gabriel is eleven miles 
from Los Angeles. 




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pERHAPS no novel relating to the 
^ West has been so widely read as 
Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson's *'Ramona," 
in which she aimed to depict the sufferings 
of the native California Indians. A large 
part of the story is laid in and around 
the building shown on the opposite page, 
the country home place of the old Del 
Valle family, at Gamulos, in Ventura 
County, on the Southern Pacific Railway. 



[\ AANY striking contrasts in the way 
■^ ^ ^ of scenery may be found in South- 
ern California, especially during the winter 
months, when the higher mountain tops 
are covered with snow, while a few hours' 
journey below, in the valley, the atmos- 
phere is heavy with the odor of orange 
blossoms. At Christmas time the visitor 
may take a dip in the ocean before 
breakfast, lunch amid the orange groves 
of the San Gabriel Valley, and dine amid 
the snow fields on Mount Lowe, and this 
without hurrying himself at all, as the 
trip from orange blossoms to snow balls 
may be made within a couple of hours. 



CPRING STREET— formerly called by 
^ its Spanish name "Primavera" — is the 
leading business thoroughfare of Los An- 
geles, although it is now being close 
pushed by its western neighbor, Broad- 
way. During the afternoons, and on 
Saturday evenings, the sidewalks of Spring 
Street are often so crowded with pedes- 
trians that progress is difficult. The 
corner shown in the illustration is one of 
the busiest localities of Los Angeles. 



A DAMS STREET, in the southwestern 
-* *■ part of the city, is one of the show 
streets of Los Angeles. The large pep- 
pers shown in the illustration having the 
appearance of forest trees, are a little 
over twenty years old. A description 
equal to its beauties can hardly be writ- 
ten of Adams Street. 



'T^HE mission style of architecture. 
^ adopted from the style in which the 
old missions were constructed, has be- 
come popular for residences in Southern 
California during the past few years, the 
material used being cement. When the 
residence is large, there is often included 
an interior "patio" or courtyard, adorned 
with plants and a fountain. The pleasing 
variety and originality displayed in the 
residence architecture of Los Angeles is 
often commented upon by visitors. 



TJERE is another of the old missions of 
^ ^ California. In the early days they 
served as hotels for the rare travelers, 
being the only places where one could 
obtain refreshment for man and beast. 
There is a project now on foot to build 
the Gamino Real, or King's Highway, 
over the route once followed by travelers 
between the missions from San Diego to 
San Francisco. The mission shown is 
that of San Juan Gapistrano. 



nALDWIN'S RANCH, about fifteen miles 
^ northeast of Los Angeles, is a favor- 
ite resort for tally-ho parties. It is a 
part of the great Santa Anita ranch of 
"Lucky" Baldwin, who made his money 
in the Gomstock silver mines. Much of 
this ranch is like an English park, being 
studded with live oaks, as the evergreen 
variety of the California oak is termed. 
Fine race horses are bred on this estate. 
This ranch lies in the heart of the beau- 
tiful and historic San Gabriel Valley. 




In Chinatown 



npHE Chinese quarter of Los Angeles, 
^ near the Plaza, the geographical 
center of the city, is always interesting, 
if not particularly odoriferous. Here, as 
elsewhere, the Chinese maintain a separ- 
ate little world of their own, keeping up 
the customs of the Celestial Empire. 
They have their own New Year's day, 
some weeks later than the Americans, 
which they celebrate with tremendous 
detonations of firecrackers, and a holiday 
extending over a week. The Chinese are 
averse to being photographed, as may be 
seen from the attitude of two of the 
women in the picture. 




Looking North on Broadway prom Fourth 



npWELVE years ago a picture taken 
^ from this point would have shown 
scarcely a business structure, only rows 
of big pepper trees along the sidewalk, 
with residences in the rear. The city 
hall tower, a prominent landmark of Los 
Angeles, again looms up in the background. 



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/^HESTER PLAGE, in the southwest- 
^^ ern part of the city, is one of the 
most beautifully improved residence sec- 
tions of Los Angeles, with iron gates, 
that give it an air of exclusiveness. The 
place is brilliantly lighted at night, with 
clusters of incandescent lamps on artistic 
iron poles, that give it the appearance of 
fairyland. 



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AS might be expected. Southern Calif- 
ornia has become a favorite residence 
section for artists, especially those who 
paint flowers and landscapes. The home 
of one of these, a flower painter of na- 
tional reputation, is depicted on the op- 
posite page. It is at Hollywood, a 
beautiful residence suburb, northwest of 
the city. 



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npHE Mission of San Juan Gapistrano 
^ lies in a beautiful little valley, where 
the Santa Fe line to San Diego reaches 
the ocean, about fifty-seven miles south 
of Los Angeles. This mission, among 
others, has been recently restored to 
some extent by the Landsmarks Club, a 
company of public spirited citizens, or- 
ganized in Los Angeles for this purpose, 
the membership of which is widely dis- 
tributed. The mission was at one time 
very wealthy, with uncounted herds of 
cattle roaming over the hills. It is re- 
ferred to in Dana's interesting book, 
"Two Years Before the Mast." 




Mount Lowe Incline Railroad 



npHE cable incline section of the Mount 
^ Lowe railroad, a short distance north 
of Pasadena, is a daring feat of engineer- 
ing, as may be seen from the illustration. 
The cable incline is literally as steep as 
the roof of a house. This part of the 
line is not long. The terminus at Echo 
Mountain may be seen from the summit. 
From that point a picturesque line of 
electric railroad winds along the face of 
the mountain to Alpine Tavern, at the 
foot of Mount Lowe, a mile above the 
sea, in the heart of a fragrant pine forest. 



LJERE is another view on Spring Street, 
* ^ from the corner of First, this time 
looking north. The large building is occu- 
pied by a department store. Further on, 
a block north of this building, is to be 
erected the new Los Angeles post office, 
costing over a million dollars. 



"pHERE is perhaps no city in the United 
States, of twice its population, in 
which women's societies of all kinds are 
so active and so influential as in Los 
Angeles. The view on the opposite page 
shows the handsome Woman's Club House 
on Figueroa Street, in the southwestern 
residence section. 




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^T^HIS is a view of one of the most 
^ charming resorts in Southern Cali- 
fornia. Gatalina Island, known as the 
"Magic Isle," is about twenty-eight nniles 
from the mainland and about thirty miles 
in length, and is almost entirely covered 
with rocky mountains. The bay of Avalon 
faces toward the mainland, there is no 
surf, the water and the surroundings re- 
minds the traveler of the Mediterranean. 
A submarine fairyland may be seen through 
glass-bottom boats. The fishing at Gata- 
lina is celebrated all over the world. The 
trip from Los Angeles occupies only about 
two hours and a half. 



CALIFORNIA does everything on a 
^^ large scale. This is as true of man 
as of nature. The giant trees, the tow- 
ering mountains and the magnificent fruits 
are supplemented by the biggest vineyard 
in the world, grain fields as large as a 
German principality, and seed farms cov- 
ering hundreds of acres. Here is a view 
of what is said to be the largest pigeon 
farm in the world. It is in the northern 
part of the city, near the Los Angeles 
river. A few miles north is another kind 
of a bird farm, containing over one hun- 
dred monster ostriches. 



TTERE is an interesting and suggestive 
^ ^ view of the heart of a city now on 
the border-line between youth and man's 
estate. True, Los Angeles is not young 
in point of age, as the lifetime of Amer- 
ican cities is counted, having been founded 
before the Declaration of Independence 
was written, but in reality, as an up-to- 
date modern city, Los Angeles has not 
yet attained its majority, the first forward 
movement having occurred in 1885. 



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J OS ANGELES has already entered 
^ the stage of sky scrapers, although 
we have nothing yet quite so imposingly 
tall as some of those which align Broad- 
way, in New York. The building shown 
on the opposite page contains more floor 
space than any other building west of 
Chicago. It is the central station of the 
great network of electric railroads that 
converge in Los Angeles. Above are 
offices, and the two top floors, including 
a roof garden, are devoted to the use of 
one of the leading social clubs of Los 
Angeles. There were used in the con- 
struction of this building nearly 30,000 
barrels of cement, 3,000 tons of steel, 
3,000,000 red brick and 500,000 pressed 
brick. The floor space available for use 
is approximately eleven acres— more than 
sufficient to furnish all the office room 
that was required in the city of Los 
Angeles twenty-five years ago. 




A Private Driveway 



n^HE fan palm, with its serrated leaves, 
^ is almost as distinctive a feature of 
the landscape in Southern California as 
the eucalyptus. The distinct suggestion 
of the tropics imparted by this tree has 
led to its general adoption for ornamental 
purposes, especially by those who are 
laying out new residence subdivisions. 
The fan palm is not an imported exotic, 
but a native to this section, there being 
groves of big palms in a little valley on 
the eastern edge of the Colorado desert. 



FACTS AND FIGURES 



Southern 
California 



Los Angeles 
County 



Southern California, as the phrase is 
usually understood, includes the seven 
southern counties of Los Angeles, 
Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, Ven- 
tura and Santa Barbara. Area 45,000 square miles. 
Coast line 275 miles. Population 1880, 64,371, today 
(estimated) 450,000. Principal products: petroleum, 
citrus fruits, beet sugar, grain, deciduous fruits, nuts 
and vegetables, beans, gold and borax. Estimated 
annual value of all products, including manufactured 
products, $100,000,000. 

Area 4000 square miles. Shore line 
85 miles. Population 1880, 33,881. 
Today (estimated) 250,000. Assessed 
valuation |170,000,000. Mortgage indebtedness (1903) 
2 5 per cent. Similar indebtedness of state at large 
9.5 per cent. 

Los Angeles bounded September 4, 1771, by a 
. small band of colonists from northern 

Mexico, under the protection of the 
Spanish government. Population, 1880, 11 ,311 . Today 
(estimated) 100,000. There are 250 miles of graded 
and graveled streets and over 20 miles of paved streets, 
with 400 miles of cement sidewalks. Bank clearings 
for 1903, $288,000,000. Los Angeles is a center of 12 
lines of railroad, including 3 transcontinental lines, 
with a fourth nearing completion. There are 200 
miles of electric railroad track within the city limits, 
and it is the center of a 500-mile network of suburban 
electric railroads. The building permits issued in 
1903 amounted to over |13,000,000. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



017 168 813 9 



PRESS OF 

KIWQSLBY. MOLHS & OOLLINS OO. 

LOS ANOBLBS. OAL. 



